Joe Blasco has enjoyed many firsts throughout his long and distinguished career: He was the first make-up artist to create “bladder” make-up effects; the first make-up artist to create government-approved centers for professional make-up artist training; and the first make-up artist chemist to refine and create make-up for low-light photography and high-resolution film and TV processes, long before the advent of HD. His pioneering efforts resulted in the creation of the first airbrush make-up, the first natural red and blue neutralizers, the first “death colors,” and the first “stay-type” products. He is also recognized as the first to commercially sell “arterial blood” (known as “lo-lite”) and high-pigment foundations produced without isopropyl myristate.
Joe Blasco helped to raise public awareness in the area of animal rights and was the first professional make-up manufacturer to fully implement cruelty-free products. He refused to allow testing on animals or processes that required the use of animal byproducts during formulation.
At an early age, Joe Blasco was told that centers for professional motion-picture and television make-up simply did not exist; he therefore decided to remedy the situation by developing the world’s first governmentally approved centers for professional make-up artistry, thereby opening doors to make-up artists worldwide. The Joe Blasco Centers are responsible for introducing more award-winning make-up artists than any other artist apprenticeship program or training program in the history of the profession.
Although once considered an industry reserved for men—particularly for male members of the “make-up families”—professional make-up became more accepting of women in large part through the efforts of Joe Blasco, whose centers openly welcomed them, helping to pave the way for them to enter the field. Today there are now morefemale artists in all areas of the art—a first in the history of the profession!
Joe Blasco is also credited with creating the most comprehensive series of encyclopedic textbooks for professional make-up artistry. The series, entitled The Professional Make-up Artist and comprised of three volumes, was co-authored by Vincent J-R Kehoe and edited by Edward Cuny Miller. These incredible books are an absolute must for all serious artists of professional make-up and are available exclusively at www.joeblasco.com.
Joe Blasco’s achievements and pioneering efforts in all areas of make-up artistry truly set him apart as the icon of the industry. From “beauty to the beast,” and in every area of the art, Joe Blasco has enjoyed it all. He has successfully experienced and mastered areas of make-up artistry far beyond application. But most importantly, he shares his knowledge with everyone and continues to create new platforms from which professional make-up can evolve to even greater heights.
Joe Blasco is always thinking “outside the box”—inventing, refining, and creating new arenas within the all-encompassing realm of professional make-up artistry. To quote Ve Neill, 5-time Academy Award-winning artist: “Joe Blasco is the only make-up artist whom I know who constantly and completely reinvents himself every three to five years!”
